Wednesday, October 31, 2012

I’d been wondering how the politics of Hurricane Sandy & Co. would play out. It was clear that Obama had some lessons to learn. First, he would he have to overcome the hubris that led to his repeated trashing of George Bush about Katrina, admitting somewhere along the way that it was/is the role of the states’ governors to lead the way in such disasters, NOT the president. Second, and more difficult, for appearances’ sake Obama would also have to avoid seeming to be carrying on with too much politicking during the worst of it.

To do otherwise would make him seem cynical and calculating. Besides, if he rode Sandy into convenient photo ops the take-away message might not be the one he intended. Thus, it might be best to lead from behind and hope his trusty dupes allies in the MSM would, as usual, carry water for him yet again. In this case, whole floods of water.

Still, I was naïve enough to think any overtly ugly jostling for political position would be set aside for a few days while people dug out from under.

No such luck.

Look at this slam by MSNBC, castigating Romney for being proactive on behalf of those in need of help:

So just when you think the MSM can’t get any sleazier, it drops a little lower into the cesspool. These talking heads have obviously overdosed on the Alinsky Kool-Aid; they are zealous in their earnest determination not to let this crisis go to waste. Donning their water wings to slosh around in the slime, they strive to dunk Romney for his gall in going against Obama’s orders. Imagine disobeying the President and directly appealing to those who showed up at his Ohio venue.

Only Romney outfoxed them again. Notice what Lead-from-Behind said: leave it to the Red Cross; they know what they’re doing, blah blah. Typical socialist clap trap: don’t take it upon yourself to actually do anything useful. Just throw money at the “experts”.

Romney didn’t countermand the Lazy One, he simply moved his pieces into another position by appealing to those who would be attending his already-scheduled stop to bring items to donate to the Red Cross. Lead-From-Behind is still playing checkers while those experienced in helping others — aid and assistance in real time — have moved on to the logistics of getting that stuff to people who need it.

Romney has been performing works of mercy his whole life. This vital aspect of his life is due not only to his family ethos, it is part and parcel of who he is in and of himself. All his life, Romney has been helping others; the stories are legion. But that part of him is not in the limelight and you can be assured that anything the MSM found while they dug frantically into his past has been kept from you lest you find out the truth because the man’s basic benignity is useless as a weapon against him. Aside from a junior high prank, the diggers have come up empty when it comes to his personal life. They are reduced to lame “exposés” about his dog, for heaven’s sake.

The definitive book about this man’s charity, personally and corporately, both in the moment as needed and in repeated long-term projects undertaken with others — that book has yet to be written. It is simply part of his character and if character counts for anything in politics, he may change the game in D.C., if only because his startling difference will shine a light on that increasingly aggressive grab-or-be-grabbed environment on the Potomac.

It certainly can’t be written now. The cynics would look for underhanded motives, and his opponents would use his compassion against him. They specialize in ugly, and Romney has provided them with slim pickings.

When the clip concluded, Bashir said, “Mayor Reed, so the Red Cross knows what it’s doing. Did he, did you detect perhaps a subtle dig there on Mr. Romney who spent today going against the guidelines established by the Red Cross and holding a campaign rally in Ohio that was dressed up like a charity drive collecting food and other supplies when the Red Cross expressly asked people not to do that?”

Imagine that. A presidential candidate who gives millions of dollars a year to charity does a storm relief event in Ohio, and an MSNBC anchor is disgusted by it because the Red Cross would prefer people donating cash.

As someone who used to organize relief events I can tell you that the Red Cross is actually glad to have both. They know from long experience that if they don’t offer people the opportunity to give something tangible, then the cash donations will be much smaller. Call it human nature: people need to perform their own individual and personal corporal works of mercy even if those actions are at one remove.

That Newsbusters report has this snip from The Washington Post:

The stop [Romney’s appearance in Ohio] was billed as a “storm relief” event, and attendees were asked to bring non-perishable foods and other items for those affected by the storm. Long white tables to one side of the cavernous James S. Trent Arena were piled high with flashlights, batteries, diapers, toothbrushes, mini-deodorants, fleece blankets, cereal, toilet paper and canned goods.

Two large TV screens at the front of the venue bore the logo of the American Red Cross and the message: “Sandy: Support the Relief Effort. Text ’REDCROSS’ to 90999 to make a $10 donation.”

Then Newsbusters ripped into MSNBC, and rightly so, for that contrived blather:

So besides the food and supplies that Ohioans generously donated, two large television screens asked participants to send money to the Red Cross.

But this didn’t make Bashir happy. Ditto his Obama-supporting guests.

“I think that this is just another moment where you see the clear striking difference between a president who has a heart for the American people and someone who simply wants to be president of the United States,” said Mayor Reed.

“Indeed,” replied Bashir who then asked for Peterson’s input.

“I would agree,” echoed Peterson. “It’s compassion that shows through in times like these. It’s humanity that shows through in times like these, and it just seems clear that the President, in addition to stepping up and doing what he does as Commander-in-Chief, demonstrates compassion in these remarks and in his approach to this kind of serious disaster.”

“All we’ve seen from Romney and from his surrogates is all kinds of politicizing and misdirection,” Peterson continued, “and I think the American people in this sort of disastrous moment can really see in bold relief the differences between President Obama and former Governor Romney.”

Yep, we can “really see in bold relief the difference between” these two men. However what the clear-sighted recognize is not the delusional shadows these fellows in their cave are seeing reflected on the walls. But they’ll never know.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Drudge says the campaigning resumes tomorrow. I wonder if Obama will do any “me, too” fund-raising for the Red Cross on his stops?

Somehow I doubt it. The fund-raising Obama has done so far is all for him, and at times his demands devolve to tacky requests that voters forego wedding presents and celebrations in order to send their family money to his re-election campaign instead. He has made of himself a lottery prize, going to the winner in exchange for ever more electioneering cash. Now he’s been forced to borrow from Bank of America to keep those increasingly bizarre campaign ads up and running in states that he’d thought were Romney-proofed. Turns out they’re not safe, and he has evidently run through all that money from his rich and famous friends.

Such deficit borrowing and spending in an effort to repeat the previous four-year nightmare is sadly indicative of his character.

Or maybe George Soros cosigned that loan?? Whatever. This short MSM “news” clip demonstrates all too well what is wrong with the jornolists in this country. That said, the grass isn’t greener elsewhere; with few exceptions the whole of the MSM seems to have been limned in a graduation ritual lifted from Faust.

Yes, that is brimstone you smell when you open The Times.

Meanwhile, the Benghazi rumble seems to be growing. As just one example from our correspondence tonight, there is this at Black Five. It’s a days-long thread, a conversation like unto many others going on all over the country.

Or perhaps you grow weary of the whole thing, wishing it would go away (not you, Mr. President). In that case, here’s a new Modest Proposal, this time at NRO. Come to think of it, this may be less drastic than what is under consideration by, say, Valkyrie Jarrett.

5
comments:

Anonymous
said...

The Romney campaign should have been able to see this criticism coming--it was predictable. So why didn't they predict it?

If they had, they might have been able to deflect some of it in advance by simply saying that they know that some would criticize Romney because they think that ONLY government or big organizations can help, and we know that government and big organizations like the Red Cross are extremely important and necessary-- but Americans have a long history of individuals helping others in times of emergencies, etc.,etc., etc. Instead the campaign just blundered into the criticism. They have run a very poor campaign, on the whole. And if they lose, this will be the cause.

"Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish."

"7 Dec 2010 – It was announced during Foreign Minister Støre's visit to Indonesia that Norway will contribute with 1 million US dollar to the Red Cross for ..."

- What else..?Using the Red Cross as a tool to- Teaching Norwegians to integrateRed Cross, Norway, have been working for more than ten years now as part of the big integration project, to have Norwegians visit a muslim for tea.